Remember the loose floral painting that I was working on last year? It was before all of this crap with my back and health stuff. Well, it finally got finished and then finished again. I titled it Bittersweet Symphony.
I finished it last year in November I think. It went to Christmas at the Cabin with me and then came back home with me. Although I liked it, I also felt it needed just a little something. It wasn’t clear what that little something was until just recently.
Richness. It needed just a little more depth and richness. Now, I realize unless you follow me on Facebook or sometimes Instagram that you probably haven’t seen the first finished version. So, I’ll show it here displayed in the cabin which has very warm light.
There’s really nothing wrong with that painting at all. I just wanted to experiment and was hoping to add some richness, which I feel I accomplished.
What started out as a mostly acrylic and mixed media painting ended up being an oil and mix media painting. I added a full layer of oil paint and skewed the colors in the background to more rich blues and purples from the sage-y green and gray it was.
After that, I gave the entire thing a rich coat of glossy oil varnish. Now, it has the luxurious look of oils. I’m very pleased with how it turned out.
Having done this in the winter months made it dry quicker than in the spring. Oils take a while to dry or cure rather. But humidly can extend that time. It’s the same with acrylics, even though they dry really quickly naturally. If it’s dry and hot, whether that’s with the sun, heat or just studio lights, then they dry almost immediately. It’s part of the their charm.
While this painting is moving closer to the abstract flowers I envision in my mind, it’s not quite there yet. They’re getting looser and slightly more abstracted however I am wanting to go further with the abstraction.
This piece is a 24″x30″ and is now available at Inman’s Picture Framing and Gallery in Evansville, Indiana. Hopefully, I’ll sell it there. If not, this beauty will eventually come back home with me. Stay tuned.
Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page under the additional links menu. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery and telling mystical stories.
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